27 Mar
How long does someone have to collect payment from me if I was involved in an auto accident?
Posted in car accident attorney on 27.03.11
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I was involved in a car accident in May ‘07. I didn’t have insurance and I still do not (I live in Wisconsin and it is not required by law to have auto insurance). I gave the woman all of my information and I received a phone call from her insurance company that week as she went to the hospital. I hit her from a complete stop almost immediately as I put my foot on the gas (in my opinion, nothing that would need hospitalization). She had some damage to her bumper. After hearing from her insurance company, they told me they would call with further information. I have heard nothing from them until today (October 22), via a letter in which they are asking for collections for damages. It’s 5 months later! Can someone actually do this and what can I do?? I’m 23, I don’t have a lot of money and am pretty broke right now. I emailed a few attorneys asking them the same question, but I wanted to get some answers from anyone who has been through the same situation.
2 comments on this topic
27. March - 5:17 am
In Wisconsin, the statute of limitations for property damage is 6 years, for injury it is 3 years. During this time you can be sent a ‘bill’ for the damages. The fact they sent you a bill 5 months later is normal–they have the full 6 years to ask for payment from you. You’ll get another bill too for any injury award the lady receives by the way. In order to preserve the statue they have to file a lawsuit against you (in either small claims OR civil court dependin on the value of the injury claim and property damage), which they could very well do if you don’t pay them back (they don’t care if you are broke). Whether insurance is required by law or not doesn’t matter–this is a perfect example of WHY you have insurance…it’s alot cheaper than what you are going to end up paying.
27. March - 5:17 am
Wisconsin does not require automobile insurance? You might want to call state officials as they seem to think it is!
That is, WI still has a requirement for _financial responsibility_. You either NEED TO HAVE INSURANCE or you need to maintain a surety bond, personal funds or certificate of self insurance. I’m guessing it’s pretty obvious you did not meet any of the above requirements as stated in the laws (people like the OP scare me, thinking they don’t need to even have insurance).
The best thing to do is contact the insurance company and see what arrangements for payment can be made. In some states the insurance company can have the state suspend your drivers license until you can show that you settled the claim (some states do this automatically).
27. March - 5:17 am
I own a company that handles claims against uninsured motorists for insurance companies, including in WI. They are "subrogating" against you.
You are correct, auto insurance is not required in WI. However, "Financial Responsibility" is required, which means you get stuck footing the bill out-of-pocket if you don’t have insurance.
The other answer is correct about the time frames involved. Five months is nothing. This is legal. My company regularly gets files from insurance companies more than a year after the accident.
In WI your drivers license is at risk if you don’t repay the damages. The insurance company most likely has reported the fact that you are uninsured to the Dept of Transportation (DOT). If so, you have to show proof to the DOT that you are repaying the damages.
The insurance company has to document the amount that they are claiming. For the car, ask for copies of photos, estimate and the settlement check. For injuries, it gets a little tougher because of the privacy laws. They should still be able to provide you with some documentation on any injuries. If the other driver only went to the E/R right after the accident that is OK even if the impact was light. You need to also ask them for a copy of any releases signed by the other driver.
Regarding re-payment most companies will let you set up a monthly payment plan, which normally will require a small down payment. Down payments can range from $100 to $500. With monthly payments ranging from $50 to $300. Each company can set their own rules regarding the payment amounts, but you can always try to negotiate them. Most companies will not charge interest if you keep your payments current.
Another option they should give you is a discounted "lump sum." Let’s say the car damage is $1000 and the medical bills/injury claim is another $1500. The total owed is $2500 but many companies will allow you to pay it off at a discounted rate if you can pay within 21 to 30 days with a cashier check. If the total is $2500 they may let you off the hook for $1800 to $2000. I strongly suggest that you find a way to do this if they give you this option. It not only saves you money it takes away any chance of a monthly payment plan going bad on you if you get behind in payments.
The best advice I can give you is to work out a voluntary payment plan with them. If they have to sue you the lawyer will most likely not work with you on easy terms. Once a lawsuit is filed they will get a judgment against you which will be used to add 12% interest per year to the debt. Plus most lawyers won’t take monthly payments less than $200.
Last but not least, please go buy insurance. As you are now learning the hard way, you can buy an awful lot of insurance for what this accident will cost you now.
Good Luck.
27. March - 5:17 am
First off, not having liability insurance on your vehicle is a horrible idea. You could have spent less than $100 dollars a month (maybe less than $50 since you live in WI)so that you would not be in this situation. I live in California and the statute of limitations to collect damages is 2 years for bodily injury and 3 years for property damage. As for the hospitilization, people are stupid and think that they need all sorts of care that is not necessary. I would recommend that you have an estimate done on the damage to the vehicle, the insurance company probably has one, and go ahead and pay for that. For the injury portion, you’re probably right, it’s most likely ridiculous. If you think that the amount that they are asking for is outrageous, you may require a lawyer at that point. I work for a very large insurance company and we cash people out all the time to prevent them from racking up a lot of med bills. Usually they get anywhere from $500 to $1000 just for saying that they are injured, no proof whatsoever. So, my point in this rant is that if they ask for anything more than $1000, fight this tooth and nail in court. If you have pictures of the accident and damage bring them in. You are in a extremely bad position considering that you don’t have the backing of a big company with big attorneys to fight these kinds of fraudelent claims, and apparently the other party involved does (sorry to be the bearer of bad new). There is a silver lining; if this crazy lady does present some outrageous claim, the only place she can actually sue you is small claims court. This means that no lawyers are present, just you and her, and if you present the pics that show only a plastic bumper cover damaged plus the estimate that shows less than $1000-$1500, the judge is much more likely to lean in your favor and cut the amount that you owe significantly since the property damage portion is so much less than the injury portion.
Again, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you are in for at least $1500-$2500 that you have to pay to this lady combined…….maybe more.